Gin breast front mounting



May 14, 1940. F. E. DEEMS GIN BREAST FRONT MOUNTING Filed March 6, 1959 Fig. 2

INVENTVOR FRANK znz sms Patented May 14, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF lCE 2,200,470 GIN BREAST FRONT .MOUNTING Frank E. Deems, Birmingham, Ala., assignor to Continental Gin Company, a corporation of Delaware Application March 6, 1939, Serial No. 259,974

9 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and improved mounting for the fronts of huller gins,

Huller gins are customarily provided with elements defining a front hulling chamber and an inner roll box, the seed cotton being delivered 7 by a cotton slide from any suitable distributor and feeder means into the hulling chamber'where it is brought into engagement with the saws which carry the seed cotton into the roll box to form a roll from which the saws act to strip the lint from the seed.

The gin breast has a front closure which it has been customary to mount so that it can be taken down and removed from the gin when there is occasion to have full access to the hulling chamber for repairs, inspection, or any other purpose.

The manner in which the breast front has been made demountable heretofore has been satisfactory enough for gaining access to the gin breast for repair or inspection, because that did not have to be done with any great rapidity, but inthe operation of a battery of gins occasions do arise when it is of great importance that. deflectors canbe quickly moved so as to form shunt doors adapted to intercept further delivery of cotton into the gins. For instance, should a fire start in the distributor, through which cotton :is being fed to a battery of gins, it is important, if the fire is to be controlled, that the burning cotton in the distributor should be discharged therefrom as rapidly as possible, but it is obviously equally important that this burning cotton should not be discharged into the hulling chamber of the gins of the battery being fed from such distributor. 1

Under such circumstances my invention is designed to permit a breast front to be swung almost instantaneously from its normal vertical position forming a front closure for the hulling chamber to an inwardly inclined position across the hulling chamber in which it is adapted to deflect further feed of cotton from the gin out onto the floor of the gin house where it could be readily and promptly extinguished without igniting cotton in the gin from where fire might pass on into the condenser and press. With the fronts so arranged, the delivery of the cotton from the distributor need not be interrupted and the burning cotton can be rapidly run out and dumped onto the floor in front of the several gins of the battery.

My invention further contemplates providing the breast front with upper and lower relatively movable mounting means which are adapted to permit its complete detachment from the gin moved rearward about its lower mounting elements as a pivot until it falls against the roll box and is thereby supported in position to deflect, through the opening provided by its displacement, further delivery of cotton from the cotton slide to its respective gin,

My invention further contemplates mounting the breast front by means of upper and lower pins in suitable guide slots provided in the end frames of the gin which are so designed that the upper pins will clear their retaining slots well in advance of the lower pins clearing their slots, thus freeing the upper end of the front to be swung inwardly on its lower guide pins as pivots to assume feed-intercepting position.

My invention further contemplates so designing the upper slots in which the top pins are received that a rapid upward movement of the front to disengage it therefrom will give it a thrust rearwardly sothat .it will fall automatically into its feed-intercepting position when .released.

My invention further contemplates taking advantage of the lower pins remaining engaged in their .slots after the upper pins have cleared their respective .slots, to swing the front outwardly and downwardly to full open position and gain access to the roll box without dismounting the front from the gin.

My invention further contemplates designing the upper and lower mounting slots so that the .lower slots extend upwardly and then open to the front while the upper slots extend upwardly and rearwardly and open toward the rear, the lower slots being of substantially greater dimension vertically than the upper slots.

My invention further comprises the novel details of construction and arrangements of parts which, in their preferred embodiment only, are exemplified in the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 represents a vertical transverse cross huller gin comprising a roll box 5 inits inner breast 6 and a hulling chamber 1 in its outer breast 8. The seed cotton is delivered normally into the hulling chamber by means of a cotton slide 9 from a feeder supplied by an overhead distributor, the feeder and distributor not being shown as they form no essential part of my invention. The gin comprises the customary grate fall l0 and hulling ribs H with bothof which the saws |2 coact, the latter ribs being attached overhead to a rib rail I3 carrying the lower roll box front I4 with which a movable roll box door I5 is associated. The outer breast 8 is pivotally mounted on the pins I6 which are engaged in slots H at the forward edges of the inner breast 6. A breast front l8, of any standard construction, closes the front of the gin and has end frame members l9 provided each with an upper mounting pin 20 and a lower mounting pin 2|; which pins are mounted fixedly so as to project horizontally beyond the ends of the front. Each upper pin is received in a slot 22 formed in a frame member 23 offset inwardly from the inner face of the adjacent head of the outer breast 8,

and these slots 22, as will be seen in Fig. 1, lead upwardly at a rearward inclination and open tln'ough the top of said member 23, thus permitting them to be lifted up and out of their slots by a relatively short up-movement of the front I3.

The lower pins 2| work in slots 24 formed in the lower end of the offset members 23, these slots being vertically elongated and opening at their upper end outwardly through the front edge of the members 23, as will be seen more clearly in Fig. l. The pins 2| normally rest in the lower ends of the slots 24 and form pivot supports for the front l8 which is held in normal vertical operating position by the engagement of its top pins 20 in the shallow slots 22. The breast front is shown provided with an offset 25' extending across its upper edge to serve as a handle or grip to manipulate the front.

Assuming the front It mounted in its vertical dotted position (Fig. 1), which is its normal operating position, and the feed of seed cotton falling from the slide 9 in the hulling chamber 1, it will be apparent that if fire starts in the conveyor or distributor system, or any other objectionable or dangerous condition arises making it desirable to intercept feed to the gins without necessarily either stopping the gins or the conveying and distributing mechanism, this is quickly and easily effected as follows. An operator moving swiftly along the battery of gins, grasps each breast front l8 by its offset 25 and gives it a quick upward jerk. This lifts the pins 20 clear of the slots 22 but does not lift the pins 2| clear of the slots 24. The rearward inclination of the slots 22 gives to the free upper portion of the front a tilt or thrust toward the rear so that when it is released it will fall rearwardly across the hulling chamber 1 against the roll box door I5, and form an outwardly and downwardly inclined chute which will divert all material, thereafter falling from the slide 9, outwardly onto the floor in front of the gin. An operator can accomplish this shift of the front so quickly that it will hardly require more time than for him to traverse the battery of gins. Thus all the gins can have their feed quickly and completely intercepted by elements that are fire proof in themselves.

If it be desired entirely to remove the breast front, it is only necessary to lift it far enough for both sets of pins to clear their respective slots, in which case it can be set aside and replaced as easily as it was removed. I i

If it be desired to gain access to the hulling chamber and interior of the gin without removing the front, it can be lifted only high enough for its pins 20 to clear the upper slots 22 and then it can be swung over forwardly and downwardly to the lower dotted position shown in Fig. 1, in which it will hang open from said lower pins 2| out of the operators way While he gives the necessary attention to the mechanism within the gin, after which the front can be swung up and set in place by engaging its pins 20 in their slots 22. This is the simplest way to handle the breast "front when it is desired to gain access from the front of the gin into the roll box 5, or to correct any trouble in the lower portion of the hulling chamber.

The pin and slot manner of connecting the front to the gin-breast is probably the simplest and least expensive, but my invention is not to be restricted thereto as releasable upper and lower latchmeans or sliding or movable connections may be used, provided they and the gin are designed to allow the breast when freed overhead to be swung inwardly across the hulling chamber toform' a feed deflector. a

To prevent the lower pins 2| jumping out of their slots when the front is jerked up, I prefer to incline the top wall 25 of each slot 24 upwardly and rearwardly sufiiciently to form apocket at the upper end of each slot adapted to catch and hold the pins, when they strike these walls 26, from jumping out of the slots and entirely dismounting the front from the breast.

While -I have shown my invention in but'one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placedthereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

.What I claim is:

.1. In a huller gin, a hulling chamber, a cotton slide for delivering cotton into said chamber, and a front for said chamber comprising releasable meansnormally holding it in its operative position, said front being so mounted and said chamber so designed that the front may be swung inwardly across said chamber to deflect the en tering cotton outwardly from the gin.

2. A gin having a breast front with upper and lower mounting projections at each end, upwardly extending guides in the gin to receive said projections, the upper guides being constructed and arranged to permit the complete disengagement of the upper front projections therefrom and the gin being arranged to permit the breast front thus partially freed to swing inwardly across the path of cotton and the like being fed to the gin into position to deflect same from the gin.

3. In a gin according to claim 2, in which the lower projections are also demountable from their respective guides, thereby to permit the complete removal of the breast front from the gin.

4. A gin according to claim 2, in which the gin is free of obstructions that would prevent the breast, when its upper projections are free of their respective guides, swinging outwardly and downwardly-on its lower projections as pivots engage intheir respective guides.

5. A gin according to claim 2, in which the upper guides are inclined upwardly and rearwardly.

6. A gin according to claim 2, in which the -upper guides are inclined upwardly and rear- 15 wardly, and the lower guides are disposed vertically and adapted to open to the front.

7. In a huller gin havinga hulling chamber, a roll box and a feed chute delivering material into the hulling chamber, a breast comprising a movable front wall for said hulling chamber, and means to mount said wall so that it may be rocked inwardly across the hulling chamber into position against the roll box so as to intercept and outwardly deflect the material being fed to the gin.

8. A huller gin having elements defining a hulling chamber and roll box, the latter comprising a movable door to give access to the roll box, means to feed the material to be treated into the hulling chamber of the gin, a front for said chamber having lower movable connections and top latch elements and constructed and arranged when said top elements are disengaged from the gin to be swung on its lower connections either to define a front opening for said hulling chamher, said element being arranged and mounted for ready displacement inwardly across the path of the cotton entering said hulling chamber and into position to effect the immediate discharge of such entering cotton from the gin through said front opening.

FRANK E. DEEMS. 

